Chapter 882: The Worries of the "Facial Paralyzed Man" (1/5)

Marc Gasol made a key mid-range shot, dragging the game into overtime and saving a life for the Grizzlies.

Link let out a big sigh. Fortunately, he knew Gasol's position, so he took the ball immediately.

But Link didn't feel that his key rebound saved the game. On the contrary, Link blamed himself for his last-minute miss.

The biggest responsibility of a star is to kill the game in difficult moments, but Link failed to do it today. Even he felt a little sorry for the team and fans.

"My fault, my fault, I should have killed the game." Link raised his hand to signal to all his teammates.

"Hey, don't worry, we still have a chance." Gasol touched Link's head to express comfort.

This scene is somewhat similar to Gasol touching Kobe's head.

Link can always save the Grizzlies at critical moments, as if giving the ball to Link at critical moments will surely lead to a goal.

Everyone is used to this, even Link himself.

Ever since his first game-winner over Chris Paul a few years ago, Link seems to have been synonymous with "Mr. Clutch."

As everyone knows, the success rate of winning games has never been high.

Link is used to creating miracles, but he forgets that miracles don't happen all the time.

The Grizzlies players understand Link, and no one blames him. Everyone behaved the same as Gasol and encouraged Link.

But what about Link? He seemed unable to forgive himself.

The Grizzlies walked off the court silently, with a serious expression.

He doesn't want to let his teammates down again!

When a paranoid starts to compete with himself, unexpected things often happen...

※※※

At the end of regular time, the two sides battled to a 92-level tie.

Scored 92 points in 48 minutes. Neither team scored very high today. After all, both sides' shooting percentages are very tight.

But the low shooting rate did not compromise the enjoyment of this game.

Today's game is not inferior even when compared with the first two meetings between the two teams this season.

The main reason is that the two teams competed fiercely at critical moments.

Danny Green's life-saving three-pointers time and time again and Marc Gasol's last-minute buzzer-beating mid-range shot were enough to push the game to a climax.

Therefore, although the game was dragged into overtime, the fans still did not feel bored, but were still satisfied.

The 18,000 fans present were very willing to continue watching how the Spurs slowly tortured the Grizzlies to death.

"I said, the Grizzlies are just hanging on. The only change they can bring after dragging the game into overtime is to postpone the time of losing." The on-site commentator was very confident. When he saw that Link missed the throw at the critical moment, , he was convinced that Link would be unable to create another miracle today.

Even Link can't resist the power of Michael Jordan's "poisonous milk".

"Overtime is really detrimental to the Grizzlies. Teams that have just played back-to-back games often find it difficult to perform well in overtime. Fatigue and physical fitness will become their biggest enemies. After Link's victory over the Warriors yesterday He once said that he would lead the team back to No. 1 in the Western Conference as soon as possible, but now it seems that the Grizzlies’ plan to return to No. 1 in the Western Conference may have gone wrong.”

The tone of both commentators was very relaxed, as if the Spurs' victory had already been written on the record sheet.

In fact, not only the two commentators, but also Popovich determined the victory of the game.

"Kavai, continue to fight Link in overtime. You did a good job in the previous four quarters. As long as you can keep it up, the victory will definitely belong to us!"

Popovich is very excited. As the only team that could defeat the Grizzlies in the playoffs last season, the Spurs seem to have special "anti-bear" body fat.

Although winning this game cannot change the Spurs' playoff losses in the past few years.

But at the very least, the Spurs can see the dawn of defeating the Grizzlies.

The Spurs won the last game without Link. People said it was not because the Spurs were stronger, but because the Grizzlies were greatly weakened.

But today, if the Spurs win again with Link playing, there will be no excuses from the outside world!

Both Popovich and the Spurs need such a morale-boosting victory. They urgently need to prove that their aging self is still competitive in the league.

Leonard nodded silently and wiped his sweat.

What makes Leonard feel strange is that everyone present seems to be full of confidence in the game and are saying that Link did not perform well.

But is Link really bad? 27 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, shooting 42.5% from the field.

If such data were placed on other people, it would be impossible for anyone to say that this was poor performance.

Leonard's defense against Link today was not easy at all. On the surface, Leonard suppressed Link, but Leonard himself almost disappeared on the offensive end because of this.

People's energy is limited. If Leonard wants to guard Link well, he is destined not to waste too much energy and physical strength on the offensive end.

So far this season, Leonard is averaging 18.5 points per game. At first glance, this score is not much, not even 20. But considering that the Spurs are an egalitarian team, this score is already quite a lot.

But today, Leonard only scored one-third of his points per game.

Although Link scored fewer points, Leonard himself couldn't score points because of this. After all, it's still the same as before.

So in Leonard's view, he was not able to successfully contain Link today.

And every second he faced Link on the court, Leonard was worried about one thing - whether that guy would suddenly explode.

In the playoffs last season, Leonard had a profound experience of Link's ability to create magic.

There were several games where the Spurs seemed to have a chance of winning at first, but Link was always able to turn the tide and extinguish the Spurs' victory flames in one fell swoop.

When Link made a breakthrough throw at the last moment, Leonard felt as if he was more nervous than Link who made the final throw!

Speaking of which, Link's consecutive triple-double record this season started when he played against the Spurs for the first time.

Would that guy really let his record be ended like this?

Leonard was feeling very uneasy, and one should never underestimate how dangerous Link was until the game was over.

From the end of regular time to the beginning of overtime, there is only a 100-second rest period.

Soon, players from both teams will have to step onto the court again and start fighting again.

When overtime began, the cheers in the ATT Center were thunderous. Everyone seemed to agree that these five minutes would be hell for the Grizzlies.

Leonard has been staring at Link since he came on the field. It is not difficult to judge from Link's expression that the guy has not lost his fighting spirit!

Leonard couldn't help but swallow. Five minutes was enough for Link to do a lot of things.

Take the last game as an example. The Grizzlies beat the Warriors 20-0 in five minutes.

The starting lineups of both sides remained unchanged. After the referee's whistle, Duncan fought for the basketball over Gasol, who was too exhausted to jump up at all.

The scrimmage in overtime is more meaningful than the scrimmage in regular time. No matter who gets the ball first in regular time, each team has the same number of serves at the beginning of each quarter.

But overtime is different. Being able to win the basketball first means getting a preemptive opportunity.

And because there is no follow-up game, winning the ball first also means gaining the right to attack one more time.

The Spurs are winning the basketball and are gaining momentum. In the first attack of the game, the Spurs found Danny Green.

This magical shooter is no longer just satisfied with saving the team, what he wants now is to kill the game!

But the moment Danny Green caught the basketball, he found Link's face appearing in front of him.

The Grizzlies' first change in overtime was to let Link, who was originally guarding Leonard, switch to guard Green!

Green panicked instantly. He didn't know why, but Link just stood in front of him, and he felt flustered.

Link's defensive deterrence makes even the most accurate shooter dare not shoot easily.

Everyone has not forgotten the scene of Curry being fooled by Link outside the three-point line in the last game.

So Green handed the ball to Leonard, but Leonard was destined to not be able to score easily against Butler.

The Spurs once again used their crazy passing style, but after passing the ball for a circle, they found that there was no gap at all!

"The Grizzlies' defense... seems to have increased in intensity! But how is that possible? Shouldn't they be more tired!?" The on-site commentator was a little panicked. The first round of the game was different from what he expected. !

Indeed, the Grizzlies, who were still battling with the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference last night, should be more exhausted than the Spurs now.

But Link's competitive spirit infected the entire team. Link's self-blame during the break made everyone realize the importance of this victory.

The dignity of the championship does not allow them to fall now!

In the end, Boris Diaw had to shoot a three-pointer against the defense. Diaw may be a reliable open shooting point, but superstar ball is far beyond the Frenchman's ability.

Diaw's shot missed the frame, and the Spurs got off to a bad start on their first attack!

Link jumped high and grabbed the backboard in the air.

The moment he held the ball tightly with both hands, the basketball made a crisp sound.

This shows how hard Link grabbed the ball.

He was as hungry as a wild wolf who had been hungry for three days and three nights.

After landing, Link didn't hesitate, as if a car had burned out its tires and was waiting for the green light to soar into the sky.

Leonard was just about to retreat when he noticed Link rushing towards him quickly.

During the rapid march, Link's upper body swayed beautifully, causing Leonard's center of gravity to sway a bit.

Taking advantage of this fleeting opportunity, Link changed direction and accelerated, leaving Leonard behind beautifully!

"With a fake move while traveling at high speed, Link passed Leonard cleanly! Everything was clear in front of him, and he left everyone on the Spurs behind!"

Amid the horrified shouts of the on-site commentators, Link suddenly dunked and pulled the rim hard with both hands!

Just off the court, Link had already decided on his style of play in overtime.

Since you can't make a shot today, or even a floater, then go for it!

Use the simplest and crudest way to hit the basket!

Seeing Link's one-stop fast break from rebounding to passing to dunking, everyone in the ATT Center was trembling with fear.

Link's momentum is completely different from what he expected...

After landing, Link raised his mouth fiercely and pointed at the number behind him toward the surrounding stands.

What does that 0 represent? In the eyes of different people, it means different things.

But in San Antonio, that 0 means only one thing - death!

The basketball stand was "creeping" shaking, and the Grizzlies were already 2 points ahead of the Spurs.

Link retreated to his own half, then stared at Danny Green, and slapped the floor hard with both hands.

Link was angry, angry with himself, and the consequences were dire.

What Leonard worried about turned out to be a reality.